Category: Azer News

On July 21, an official welcome ceremony was held in Berlin for President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, AzerNEWS reports.

Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Friedrich Merz welcomed President Ilham Aliyev.

Members of the German delegation were presented to President Ilham Aliyev, while Members of the Azerbaijani delegation were presented to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The chief of the guard of honor reported to the President of Azerbaijan and the Federal Chancellor.

The national anthems of Azerbaijan and Germany were played.

President Ilham Aliyev and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz passed along the line of guard of honor.

A propane tanker sailing under the Liberian flag was damaged approximately 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast following an explosion on board, AzerNEWS reports.

Romanian President Nicu?or Dan announced the incident in a post on X, identifying the vessel as the Gas Lisbon. According to the president, the tanker had departed from the Port of Alexandria in Egypt and was en route to the Port of Reni in Ukraine.

Romania’s Maritime Safety Agency quickly dispatched two rescue vessels to the scene. All crew members were safely evacuated, including three sailors who sustained injuries. The injured were transported ashore along with the rest of the crew.

President Dan said a tugboat had also been deployed to stabilize the damaged vessel and prevent it from drifting, which could have posed additional risks to maritime traffic in the area.

Meanwhile, Romanian news outlet Digi24 reported that the explosion occurred aboard the propane-laden tanker and cited sources suggesting the vessel was likely struck by a maritime drone. The origin of the suspected drone has not yet been established.

President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to King Felipe VI of Spain on the occasion of the Spanish national football team becoming the world champion.

The letter was published on the official website of the President of Azerbaijan.

“Your Majesty,

On the occasion of the magnificent victory of the Spanish national football team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and its winning of a second World Cup title, I sincerely congratulate you and, through you, the entire Spanish people on behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan.

I extend my warmest congratulations to the Spanish footballers, who demonstrated high skill, great determination, and an unbreakable will during the World Cup matches, giving their fans unforgettable moments and boundless joy, and I wish them continued success in the future,” the letter reads.

Huang Zhen, 34, shut his cafe for a day last week to be buffeted by surging waters and powerful winds that knocked him off his feet – training for extreme weather events that are increasingly afflicting China, AzerNEWS reports, citing Tribune.

Huang was one of a dozen people attending a session at the Lvxing Disaster Simulation Training Centre in Hangzhou, eastern China. For 1,599 yuan ($235) per day, it offers a realistic experience of what it is like to be caught up in a typhoon or a flash flood, albeit with the advantage of wearing a wetsuit, a helmet and having a safety instructor to guide you.

The centre says it the first of its kind in the world to provide typhoon training, with its simulated experience generating wind speeds of up to 165 kph (103 mph) alongside torrential rain.

In a separate section, 900 metric tons of surging water are unleashed to mimic mountain flooding, while in another, participants must wade – sometimes thigh-deep, sometimes shoulder-deep – through 400 tons of water in a mock urban environment.

“Over the last two years, the weather has become increasingly unpredictable,” Huang said. “An opportunity like this … gives us a better idea of what different levels of disasters might actually be like, and helps raise our awareness of disaster preparedness.”

Climate change is increasingly exposing the world’s second-largest economy to destructive weather events, scientists say. This year is of ?particular concern due to the emergence of the El Niño weather pattern, which can drive up temperatures and fuel more intense typhoons.

China’s National Climate Centre has said it expects up to six typhoons to form in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea in July, more than the average of 3.8. One of those was Typhoon Bavi, which brought severe floods and forced millions of Chinese to evacuate.

“Typhoon Bavi hit just a couple of days ago, making people realise that typhoon hazards are far more of a threat than we thought,” said Wu Zijian, a 44-year-old freelance worker who travelled from nearby Shanghai to attend.

More than 160,000 people have attended sessions at the centre since it opened in May 2025. Wang Kuanghan, the centre’s chief instructor, said there are plans to open five more centres in China within the next three years. These will include simulations of other natural disasters such as fires and earthquakes.

For those who can’t make it there yet, Wang has a tip. “If you ask me, the most important survival skill during a typhoon is simply not to go outside,” he said. “Stay indoors and keep yourself safe at home.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings have fallen to their lowest levels since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, according to recent surveys conducted by Russia’s leading polling organizations, AzerNEWS reports.

A survey by the state-run All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) recorded the sharpest weekly decline in Putin’s approval rating in nearly two years. According to the poll, the share of respondents approving of the president’s performance fell by 3.5 percentage points, from 70.4% to 66.9%.

Russian outlet Agentstvo noted that the last comparable weekly decline occurred in August 2024, when Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, causing Putin’s approval rating to drop from 77.1% to 73.6%.

The latest decline is part of a broader downward trend that has been observed since the spring. Russia’s three main polling organizations-VTsIOM, the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), and the independent Levada Center-have all reported weakening public support for the president, although each uses different survey methodologies.

VTsIOM changed its polling methodology in May, shifting from exclusively telephone interviews to a combination of telephone and face-to-face surveys, citing communication challenges. Following the methodological change, the center reported a temporary rebound in Putin’s approval rating from 65.6% in mid-April to 70.4% in June before the latest decline.

Meanwhile, the Public Opinion Foundation, which conducts face-to-face interviews at respondents’ homes, reported that 70% of Russians approve of Putin’s performance, down five percentage points since mid-June. According to the organization, this represents the president’s weakest result since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when his approval rating stood at 64%.

The independent Levada Center also reported a decline, placing Putin’s approval rating at 74% in June, its lowest reading since the outbreak of the war.

Despite it being the summer season, prices for natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) on global energy markets remain as high as during the winter period, AzerNEWS reports.

Analysts attribute the surge mainly to the renewed escalation of military tensions between Iran and the United States in the Gulf region.

Natural gas prices on the European market have reached around $700 per 1,000 cubic meters, while prices at the Netherlands-based TTF hub stand at approximately $716. Although some European countries have increased LNG imports from the United States, supplies have not been sufficient to fully meet demand. At the same time, the process of filling underground gas storage facilities is progressing slowly.

None of the gas storage facilities across European countries has exceeded 55% capacity, according to available data. European media reports that some countries have raised the possibility of resuming natural gas imports from Russia. The European Union, however, has struggled to find effective arguments to prevent such discussions.

Even if the EU were to lift sanctions against Russia, restoring Russian gas exports would not be possible in the near term. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has intensified significantly, with both sides showing little willingness to compromise. In addition, much of the infrastructure and pipeline network previously used for gas transportation has been damaged or destroyed, making a quick restoration unlikely.

Despite these challenges, European countries continue to purchase Russian LNG. According to the Financial Times, EU member states imported 9.89 million tonnes of Russian LNG worth pound 6 billion during the first six months of this year, representing an 18% increase compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, unexpected energy-related expenses continue to put pressure on European budgets. Replacing funds allocated for energy purchases has become increasingly difficult, as energy shortages are limiting economic growth.

The shifting sands of global geopolitics have once again thrust the maritime choke points of the Middle East into the center of international anxiety. For decades, global energy markets and military strategists viewed the Strait of Hormuz as the ultimate geopolitical trigger-a narrow body of water where any direct confrontation between Iran and the United States could instantly paralyze the global economy. Yet, as tensions between Washington and Tehran flare up with renewed intensity, the theater of naval vulnerability has expanded dramatically. The strategic calculus of international trade is no longer confined to the threat of Iran sealing off the Persian Gulf; instead, a far more complex and asymmetric threat has fully matured further south, at the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

This expansion of the conflict zone is not merely a geographic shift, but a technological transformation driven by the changing nature of modern warfare. The ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent skirmishes across the Middle East have served as a real-world testing ground for a new era of combat defined by the proliferation of cheap, mass-produced drones and loitering munitions. The chilling lesson from these conflicts is that traditional, multi-million-dollar air defense systems are fundamentally ill-equipped to handle swarms of low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles. Navies built around massive, heavily armored vessels now find themselves struggling against asymmetric threats that cost a fraction of a single interceptor missile.

It is this technological asymmetry that gives the Houthi rebels in Yemen the leverage to credibly threaten a total blockade of the Bab al-Mandab. Operating with sophisticated drone technology and intelligence sharing from regional allies, the Houthis have demonstrated that controlling a vital global shipping lane no longer requires a blue-water navy or advanced fighter jets. By exposing the vulnerabilities of standard maritime defense grids, they have effectively proven that the Bab al-Mandab can be shut down at a whim. The psychological impact of this reality has already rippled through the global logistics industry. Fearing catastrophic losses, a vast majority of international shipping conglomerates have abandoned the Red Sea route altogether, opting instead for the lengthy, costly circumnavigation around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

As the traditional maritime arteries of East-West trade choke under the pressure of war and instability, the global economy is being forced to adapt. It is precisely within this vacuum of security that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, widely known as the Middle Corridor, is transitioning from a visionary regional project into an indispensable pillar of global supply chain resilience. Stretching from China through Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and Georgia, and onward to Turkey and Europe, this land-and-sea network offers exactly what the maritime routes currently lack: stability, safety, and predictability.

The significance of the Middle Corridor increases exponentially with every drone strike in the Red Sea and every spike in naval war insurance premiums. With the Northern Corridor through Russia largely unviable for Western corporations due to enduring sanctions and political isolation, and the Southern maritime route plagued by the volatile dynamics of the Bab al-Mandab and Hormuz, the Middle Corridor stands out as the most secure bridge between the world’s manufacturing hubs in Asia and its primary consumer markets in Europe.

Furthermore, the logistical math is tilting in the Middle Corridor’s favor. While bypassing the Bab al-Mandab by sailing around Africa adds thousands of miles and roughly two weeks to a vessel’s journey-inflating fuel costs and disrupting just-in-time manufacturing schedules-the Middle Corridor offers a highly competitive transit time. Ongoing investments in digitalizing customs procedures, expanding port capacities in Baku and Aktau, and upgrading the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway have systematically eliminated historical bottlenecks.

Ultimately, the escalating friction between Iran and the West is rewriting the geography of trade. The vulnerability of maritime choke points to cheap drone warfare means that the era of relying entirely on vulnerable ocean passages is drawing to a close. In this new world order, where security is the ultimate currency, the Middle Corridor is no longer just an alternative; it is becoming the definitive anchor of Eurasian commerce.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to make a state visit to the United States in September, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, AzerNEWS reports.

Speaking to reporters, Rubio said that the Chinese government is continuing preparations for the visit and has been sending delegations to Washington to coordinate the arrangements.

The anticipated trip follows an invitation extended by President Donald Trump during his official visit to China on May 13-15. Beijing later confirmed that it had accepted the invitation, paving the way for Xi’s expected visit to Washington this fall.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected what he called “shocking remarks” targeting IDF soldiers, after ultra-Orthodox leader Rabbi Dov Lando accused soldiers fighting in state-led wars of committing “murder”, AzerNEWS reports.

Netanyahu said IDF troops from religious, secular and ultra-Orthodox backgrounds “leave their homes, jobs and families to risk their lives defending Israel and its citizens.” He added that soldiers deserve “deep appreciation, gratitude and full support” from all parts of society, including the religious community.

“If the state sends people, soldiers, for the honour of the state and they kill people is that also permissible? It’s very much murder. So they incite murder. They wage wars not only for the sake of salvation, but for the honour of the state,” Lando said on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is coordinating with Oman, as the two coastal states bordering the Strait of Hormuz, to develop mechanisms and implement measures concerning the strategic waterway, AzerNEWS reports.

“Iran does not want the Strait of Hormuz to once again be used as a means of threatening the country’s security and national interests. As one of the two coastal states, alongside Oman, Iran is committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure the strait is not exploited in ways that undermine its interests or sovereignty,” Baghaei said.

He stressed that Iran believes all measures related to the Strait of Hormuz should be pursued through close cooperation between Tehran and Muscat.

Baghaei also noted that Iran has been in contact with Oman on issues concerning the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire between Iran and the United States was restored on April 7-8, adding that consultations between the two sides are ongoing.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, holding significant strategic importance as approximately 20% of global oil supplies and around 25% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports pass through it. Essentially, it serves as an energy artery for countries in Asia, Europe, and even the United States.

The strait separates Iran from Oman, and in some areas, the width of the shipping channel is only two miles on each side. Given its critical role in global energy supply chains, ensuring the safety and security of this vital waterway is paramount for international trade and economic stability.